Apple seeks two-story retail store in Portland

Apple has its heart set on constructing a vast two-story retail store in Portland, Oregon's Historic Alphabet District but will first have to gain the approval of the local historic landmarks commission.

Documents filed with the city show the iPod maker to be eyeing a 50' x 100' lot at the south-west corner of NW Glisan St and NW 23rd St. It currently houses an abandoned two-story building, constructed in 1982, which Apple wants to replace.

Earlier this week a local architect appeared before Portland's Historic Landmarks Commission to present Apple's plans to demolish the building and and replace it with a fresh two-story retail design.

According to filings, Apple's plans call for a "a double height, one-floor corner retail building shell approximately 4,750 square feet." However, the documents indicate the company will likely add a second floor.

By utilizing two floors Apple could achieve over 9,000 square feet of space before accounting for storage. This would make the store nearly half the size of most Apple flagship stores, and significantly larger than the average Apple store.

The design proposal calls for the entrance to the store to face NW 23rd Avenue with a service door along NW Glisan. Apple also wants to wrap two thirds of the storefront with a clear glass "glazing system."

Of course no Apple store would be complete without its tag, an internally illuminated 4.5 x 4.5 Apple logo set into the exterior of the building. Other external building materials Apple plans to use include concrete, a panelized metal panel and rain screen veneer, and light boxes.

If Apple's proposal receives final approval, the store would likely open prior to the 2006 holiday shopping season. It would be Portland's second Apple retail store; in July the company opened a much smaller store inside Pioneer Place, a multi-level glass-ceilinged mall in the heart of the city.

Word of Apple's intentions for a second Portland retail store first surfaced on Apple Retail enthusiast site ifoAppleStore.

The Alphabet District is actually an Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, and so is recognized by the City of Portland.
This status was awarded after long action by neighborhood activists. The requirements in the district may actually prove a hurdle for some design characteristics of the proposed Apple building.

Rather than being a marketing ploy, the district designation is actually a form of protection (albeit imperfect) for the existing character of the neighborhood.